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An international public-private partnership that aims to develop a pediatric treatment for schistosomiasis, or bilharzia, received a $1.15 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Members of the consortium include Astellas Pharma, Merck KGaA and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute.

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Japan's government has joined the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as well as drugmakers Astellas, Eisai, Daiichi-Sankyo, Shionogi and Takeda to form the Global Health Innovative Technology fund to develop diagnostic tests, drugs and vaccines to fight disease in developing countries. The group will collaborate on research with significant impact, says Dr. Kiyoshi Kurokawa, the fund's chairman.

EpiEP has raised $1.15 million in financing from 12 unnamed investors, completing its $2.75 million funding round that started in January. The New Haven, Conn.-based company is the maker of EpiAccess, a minimally invasive heart surgery tool currently undergoing human trials in Europe.

U.S. and European scientists said they sequenced at least 11,809 genes of Schistosoma mansoni, a parasitic worm that causes bilharzia, or snail fever. They said the findings could lead to better treatments for the disease, which rivals malaria and other conditions that are common in tropical countries.

The billions of dollars invested in health care research and drug discovery by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation likely will impact drug companies and pressure them to collaborate with the foundation, according to a new report by IMS Health. Such partnerships also may aid drug companies' public relations, the group said.

An international group of scientists, backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is trying to develop a mosquito strain unable to carry deadly diseases, such as dengue and malaria. In addition to scientific obstacles, the project faces doubts among governments and the public about the introduction of biotech insects.